Category Archives: Gender

Mixed Messages: Gender Differences in Performance and Promotability Ratings (IO Psychology)

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Topic: Gender, Performance Appraisal
Publication: Journal of Management (MAR 2012)
Article: A Meta-Analysis of Gender Group Differences for Measures of Job Performance in Field Studies
Authors: Roth, P. L., Purvis, K. L., & Bobko, P.
Reviewed By: Thaddeus Rada

In human resource management, we are often concerned with group-based differences in the measurement of performance, satisfaction, and other variables (for legal and ethical reasons). Previous meta-analytic studies (studies that look at data/findings across multiple studies) have examined the role of certain group characteristics, such as ethnicity, on performance, but gender differences have not been studied as frequently. In addition, as the authors of the current article note, previous meta-analyses that have assessed gender differences in performance have generally utilized various proxies for performance (e.g., absenteeism, satisfaction ) rather than actual performance measures (e.g., supervisor ratings). The goal, then, of this meta-analysis, was to examine gender differences on these realistic performance indices in field samples.

Meta-analyzing a total of 61 employee samples (rather than college student samples), the authors concluded that, on the average, there appears to be a great deal of similarity between levels of performance for males and females. Despite this conclusion, the authors also found support for their hypothesis that males generally receive slightly higher promotability ratings. The authors’ conclusions about gender differences in performance and promotability point out a potential management paradox in the following sense: although small, performance differences seem to suggest that females are better performers, yet they appear to be rated slightly lower on promotability compared to males.

Roth et al. suggest a number of future research directions to assist in increasing our understanding of this phenomenon, including studies of other types of job performance (such as work samples) and additional research on the influence of gender on promotability ratings in general (Roth and colleagues only identified eight such studies to include in the current meta-analysis). It will be useful to continue conducting such research in field settings, as the studies included in this meta-analysis did; as such, this may be a prime opportunity for academic-practitioner collaboration in IO psychology.

Roth, P. L., Purvis, K. L., & Bobko, P. (2012). A meta-analysis of gender group differences for measures of job performance in field studies. Journal of Management, 38, 719-739.

human resource management, organizational industrial psychology, organizational management

 

 

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Co-ruminating with work friends by the water cooler?

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Topic: Gender
Publication: Journal of Business and Psychology (MAR 2011)
Article: Co-Rumination in the Workplace: Adjustment Trade-offs for Men and Women
Who Engage in Excessive Discussion of Workplace Problems.
Authors: D.L. Haggard, C. Robert, A.J. Rose
Reviewed By: Rebecca Eckart


Developmental psychology has long studied this phenomenon: when friends excessively discuss personal problems in an intense, repetitive and speculative manner(termed co-rumination), they experience a significant increase in the quality of theirfriendship, but also an increase in negative adjustment outcomes (e.g., depression). Recently, researchers have become interested in whether this trend also occurs in theworkplace. 

Haggard, Robert, and Rose (2011) reported in a recent study that women tend toengage in more co-rumination about work problems than men. And in an environmentwith an abusive supervisor (defined as a supervisor that continually exhibits verbaland/or non-verbal behaviors, excluding physical contact), this co-rumination is actuallyassociated with increased negative outcomes (e.g., work-family conflict) for women.The good news is that in the absence of an abusive supervisor, co-rumination is notsignificantly related to any negative outcomes for women.

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Are Women at a Loss in the Workplace due to Breadwinning at Home?

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Topic: Gender
Publication: Journal of Business and Psychology (WINTER 2011)
Article:  A Woman’s Place and a Man’s Duty:  How Gender Role Incongruence in One’s Family Life Can Result in Home-Related Spillover Discrimination at Work
Author:  Marıa del Carmen Triana
Reviewed By:  Kerrin George

The lack of adherance to stereotypical gender is one source of gender discrimination in the workplace.  In light of the increasing yet still minority number of women who are becoming the primary earners in dual-earner, heterosexual couples, a question arises:  Does this change from the traditional expectation that males should be the breadwinners lead to discrimination at work against the men and women in these relationships ?

In a recent study, del Carmen Triana investigated “home-related spillover discrimination,” or how the stereotype incongruent roles of women being  primary earners and men being secondary earners in a household may spillover into work, leading  to the creation of barriers.  The findings supported that participants were more surprised when women were the breadwinners compared to men who were primary earners.  Men who were secondary earners were more likely to be evaluated as overqualified for their current positions compared to women who were the secondary earner.  However, females who were the primary earners were not seen as more overqualified compared to male peers. 

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The Relationship Between Weight and Salary: Bad News For All Kinds of People

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Topic: Fairness, Gender, Selection
Publication: Journal of Applied Psychology (JAN 2011)
Article: When It Comes to Pay, Do the Thin Win? The Effect of Weight on Pay for Men and Women
Authors: T.A. Judge, D.M. Cable
Reviewed By: Ben Sher

Does career success have anything to do with what you look like?  According to a recent study by Judge and Cable (2011), the answer is yes. 

From the same people who explained that height may influence salary (Judge & Cable, 2004), now it seems weight can also influence salary.  Drawing from cultivation theory, or the idea that people are slowly drawn to accept social norms promoted by the media, they say it literally pays to be the “ideal” weight. 

So what exactly is the “ideal” weight?  Not surprisingly, the answer is different for men and women.  The authors say underweight men are actually punished with smaller salaries, presumably because they have violated gender-role norms by being too skinny.  Men are paid more with increased weight, up to the point of obesity, when salaries start to gradually decline.  For women, a very different pattern emerged.  Underweight women had the highest salaries, and salaries decreased with additional weight gain. 

But not all weight gain is equal.  In one study, the salary decrease between average versus underweight women was twice the decrease between average weight women and overweight women.  According to the researchers, this is because the media has long been portraying increasingly thinner women as being ideally attractive, and the workplace has discriminated accordingly.  Once women violate this ideal and become average weight, they may already be seen as “letting themselves go” so any further weight gain isn’t as detrimental.  

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“Think Manager-Think Male” versus “Think Crisis-Think Female”

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Topic: Leadership, Gender
Publication: Journal of Applied Psychology  (DEC 2010)
Article:  Think Crisis–Think Female: The Glass Cliff and Contextual Variation in the Think Manager–Think Male Stereotype
Authors: Michelle K. Ryan, S. Alexander Haslam, Mette D. Hersby, and Renata Bongiorno
Reviewed By:  Kerrin George

Traditionally, in what has been called the “Think Manager- Think Male” stereotype (TMTM), males tend to be viewed as more suitable for leadership positions.  However, this relationship may be context dependent, as preliminary examinations reveal that women appear to be appointed to leadership positions more often in crisis situations, the “Think Crisis-Think Female” phenomena (TCTF). 

Ryan and colleagues (2010) recently examined the TMTM versus TCTF phenomena in a series of studies.  They supported that the TMTM stereotype is persistent for managers of successful companies, especially among male respondents.  Traits that typically characterize males (i.e., forceful and aggressive) tended to be desired considerably more than stereotypically feminine traits (i.e., understanding, sympathetic). The authors argue that this finding may be due to typical relationships between gender and upper-level leadership, as a subsequent study that asked participants to characterize ideal managers of a successful company showed that both masculine and feminine traits were desired.

In contrast, when imagining organizations performing poorly, male characteristics were negatively associated with the manager characterization, suggesting a “Think Crisis- Think ‘not male’” relationship that may lead women to occupy these positions. 

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Organizational Culture: Attracting Job Applicants by Advertising the “Softer Side”

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Topic: Recruiting, Gender
Publication: Journal of Business and Psychology (WINTER 2010)
Article: The impact of organizational culture on attraction and recruitment of job applicants
Authors: D. Catanzaro, H. Moore, T.R. Marshall
Reviewed By: Rebecca Eckart

Organizational culture is typically described as the collective set of values and norms shared by members of an organization. Recently, researchers have started to categorize organizational cultures as either being “supportive” or “competitive” in nature. Supportive cultures value collaboration, equality, supportiveness, and work-life balance, whereas organizations with a competitive culture typically value individualism, ambition, rewards, and a focus on one’s career.

In a recent study, Catanzaro, Moore, and Marshall (2010) examined how beliefs about the organization’s culture impacts male and female applicants’ job pursuit, organizational preference, and organizational choice. They found that overall, both men and women would rather pursue a job with a supportive organization, even if that meant accepting less compensation. However, when presented with a job in a competitive organizational culture, men are more likely than women to pursue the job. Participants indicated that they would rather work for the supportive organization because it allows for more work-life balance and appears more concerned for its employees.

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Ethical Leadership and OCBs?

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Topic: Organizational Citizenship Behavior, Ethics, Gender
Publication: Journal of Applied Psychology (DEC 2010)
Article: Fostering good citizenship through ethical leadership:  Exploring the moderating role of gender and organizational politics.
Authors:  Michele Kacmar, Daniel Bachrach, Kenneth Harris, and Suzanne Zivnuska
Reviewed By: Bobby Bullock

Kacmar, Bachrach, Harris, and Zivnuska (2010) sought to expand on ethical leadership research by examining its relationship with organizational citizenship behavior.  First, they examined the direct relationship between ethical leadership (honest, fair, and transparent leadership) and organizational citizenship behavior (OCB- prosocial behavior at work such as helping fellow employees with difficult tasks).  The results of their blanket study indicated that the presence of ethical leadership in an organization led to higher rates of OCB.  This showed that when employees feel indebted to ethical leaders, they may seek to “repay” them with OCB.  If it were that simple it would be great- make sure leaders act ethically and you could create a positive, prosocial work environment just like that!  Things aren’t always so simple, as we find out in the latter parts of their study.

However straightforward the above findings are, they do not take into account various social and political factors that are present in most workplaces.  Here’s where things get interesting.  Employee gender roles and perceptions of organizational politics (POP- an employee’s perception of the political environment of their workplace, whereby high POP would indicate a politicized work environment where employees act selfishly and are motivated by self-interest) can influence the strength and direction of the above relationship.   In terms of gender roles, social role theory (SRT) suggests that men engage in OCBs in part to increase their status and further their careers.  In contrast, SRT would indicate that women engage in OCBs in part because of stronger social orientations and the desire to strengthen bonds with fellow coworkers.  

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Organizational Culture: Attracting Job Applicants by Advertising the “Softer Side”

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Topic: Culture, Recruiting, Gender
Publication: Journal of Business and Psychology (WINTER 2010)
Article: The impact of organizational culture on attraction and recruitment of job applicants
Authors: D. Catanzaro, H. Moore, T.R. Marshall
Reviewed By: Rebecca Eckart

As top talent becomes sparse but human capital continues to be a chief competitive advantage, the ability to recruit highly skilled applicants is paramount. Additionally, modern organizations have the added hurdle of attracting job applicants that also fit well with the values of the organization. Organizational culture is typically described as the collective set of values and norms shared by members of an organization. Recently, researchers have started to categorize organizational cultures as either being “supportive” or “competitive” in nature. Supportive cultures value collaboration, equality, supportiveness, and work-life balance, whereas organizations with a competitive culture typically value individualism, ambition, rewards, and a focus on one’s career.  

In a recent study, Catanzaro, Moore, and Marshall (2010) examined how beliefs about the organization’s culture impacts male and female applicants’ job pursuit, organizational preference, and organizational choice. They found that both men and women would rather pursue a job with a supportive organization, even if that meant accepting less compensation. However, when presented with a job in a competitive organizational culture, men are more likely than women to pursue the job.

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Liberty, Justice, and…an Equal Chance at a Promotion for All?

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Topic: Gender, Mentoring
Publication: Harvard Business Review (SEP 2010)
Article: Why men still get more promotions than women
Author: H. Ibarra, N. M. Carter, and C. Silva
Reviewed By: Liz Brashier

We’re constantly hearing about the advances that organizations are making in corporate gender diversity. Women are being promoted, paid well, and mentored in the workplace! Right? According to Ibarra, Carter, and Silva (2010), the answer might be closer to “yes and no.”

In a corporate climate in which women’s progression to the upper tiers of management is the current “hot topic” in diversity, it would seem that mentoring programs might just be the solution. Pairing high potential women with executive mentors, it would appear, would lead to promotions. The authors argue, though, that it’s the quality of the mentoring that really matters here – and not all mentoring is created equal. There’s actually a special type of mentoring, called sponsorship, that makes all the different in those promotions to upper-level roles.

Sponsorship is important in that the mentor is not just providing feedback for the mentee, but is goes above and beyond to use his or her influence; in sponsorship, the mentor advocates with senior executives on behalf of the mentee.

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Are Femininity and Letters of Recommendation at Odds?

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Topic: Gender, Selection
Publication: Journal of Applied Psychology
Article: Gender and Letters of Recommendation for Academia: Agentic and Communal Differences
Authors: J. M. Madera, M. R. Hebl, & R. C. Martin
Reviewed By: Katie Bachman

To answer the question posed in the title: yes, they are. In a set of two studies, researchers have shown that women tend to be described with communal terms in letters of recommendation, while men tend to be described in agentic terms. Communal in this sense means using words like “helpful,” “kind,” and “agreeable.” Agentic refers to words like “assertive,” “confident,” and “independent.” Both sets of terms can be highly positive—we need both kinds of people—but it all goes down hill for the communal types when it comes to hireability.

When people did not know the gender of the applicant, those applicants described in communal terms were deemed less hireable by subject matter experts (SMEs). Agentic terms didn’t really make a difference in the hireability of an applicant. Interestingly, men writing recommendations for women described them in more agentic terms than did women writing recommendations for women. So ladies, get those men writing your letters, especially if you’ve got a tendency to be nice! The meek shall not inherit the Earth. Assertiveness wins the day (go figure). At least, that seems to be the case with letters of recommendation.

Madera, J. M., Hebl, M. R., & Martin, R. C. (2009). Gender and letters of recommendation for academia: Agentic and communal differences. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94, 1591-1599.